How To Find Your Path?

Winter is knocking at my door but with it, it is bringing thick fog, not unlike the John Carpenter film with the same name. I love fog (unless I have to drive in it), especially living on the shipping channel of Lake Saint Clair. The deep rumblings of the foghorns call out to possible passersby, creating some sort of a longing for all who hear them. The resonant sounds of those horns, stir something inside me, making me think that I am supposed to be somewhere other than here. Which is silly, of course. If life has taught me anything, it has taught me that I am always right where I am supposed to be.

In the 80's up to present day there was an onslaught of self-help books, telling us how to do just about everything. How to be less co-dependent, how to manage marriages, how women are different than men, how to eat, how to diet, how to walk, how to run, how to make friends, how to attract the opposite sex and so on and so on and so on. I'm not saying that all self-help books were/are silly, but very few of them had something useful that we couldn't really figure out with some good ol' mythology or stories from our ancestors - which in most part are the same thing. But when I came across a book with the title "How to Find Your Path", that is when I thought, "Oh no, it's time for the shortest book ever written". Because when I take the time to reflect, I realize that I had very little to do with "my path" - how I got where I am. Maybe there was some co-creating going on before I ever entered this body, but really, I felt and still feel like a puppet on cosmic strings.

Of course, there may be a bit more to it than that. When it is time for life to take a turn, I begin to hear voices (some of us call it ideas) that I need to make a change. Before we moved from Seattle to Michigan, for an entire year, I began to say to my husband, "We have to move". Being a good Cancerian man -this is never a great idea in their book. He would say "Move where?" I didn't know but almost daily, I would tell him, "We have to move, we have to move, we have to move." Over and over again. Finally, Joe accepted that we did need to get the hell out of Seattle, and for both of us it changed our lives in ways we couldn't imagine. Who would think that Michigan is the preferred place to a gorgeous city like Seattle? But we found two slices of heaven where we have lived in this beautiful State, not to mention, the soulful people that live in this area. I toured all over the country and overseas - but the people in this State are the salt of the earth and can't do enough to help you if you need it. My point being, did I sit and worry about where I should live, or what I should do to be happy, or if I will ever meet my soul mate. Information came at a time it was supposed to, so worries, concerns, nervousness - only ended up making me feel bad. I am here for the experience. The experience. The experience. That is my religion, my gift from God - my experience. Is there a purpose in worrying about what might and might not happen? As a matter of fact, when I took this philosophy to heart in relation to finding a soul mate, Joe showed up almost instantly. Following that law of physics "The harder you push the more resistance you get."

I believe that my inspiration to hear the next message for my journey is always right where it should be allowing my readiness to hear the single factor that I can be concerned with-not where and when the message will be. Since I believe that "all" is right here and now, then the ultimate message is available in the present moment because all that is meaningful is "right now". Living in the now, not five minutes from now or ten minutes ago - but right now - that is where the seed of awakening seems to be planted. And once I began to entertain this idea there was no turning back. I became part of "us" and less about "me". When living in the present, the details of the moment (where all the magic is) became an inspiration. Every sound on the street, every person I met (whether I liked them or not), every seed I planted, every critter I held, every moment I spent in nature and every night I spent next to my husband all made me realize that love and life really was here and now.

So back to what I would have written in response to the book I saw in the mid-80's. "How to Find Your Path". Readers would open up the book to read a single page, "Live in the Now. Follow Your Feet." Then all could close that short little book and get on with their lives. Which, if it is meant to be, will lead them to the present moment. I know when I came upon that realization, like my garden, a seed had been planted allowing me to see that all happens lawfully and on time.

I continue to practice what I preach to some of you that are kind enough to read this newsletter. Each day needing more integrity than the one before. Cleaning up half-truths, negative thoughts and basic human foibles. With all the purification and stripping away of layers I realize that I and suspect most, have not lost one single neurosis. If we are lucky, we just make them user friendly. If I strive for satisfaction I live in ego so why not just observe and enjoy the moment no matter what it brings, respecting and paying attention to my experiences. I don't think I need to read the latest self-help book to realize that life has brought me to a place where I can live with an open loving heart as the world changes, bumps, grinds, shifts, rocks, rolls, accelerates and vibrates. When there is dark before there is light, when hatred feels like it is taking over before love conquers all, I will hold the thought in my heart that everything in the universe is subject to change and everything is on schedule.

I love you all.

Harvesting the Heart

It's the end of November and if you are as lucky as Joe and I have been, over the holiday, you had plenty to give thanks for. For me, giving thanks, means that I am in a state of grace, taking an inventory of all that is in my eventful life. Our thanks include so many; Judy for helping us with the garden; Harsens Island residents for embracing us; my students for allowing me to learn as much from them as I hope, they learn from me; Joe and I for each other's love and company, our wonderful family members; our critters; the spiritual teachers who have shown us what is worth focusing on; beautiful Mother Earth for producing, replenishing and giving; and of course the Universal Consciousness for teaching us that the most important thing in the world is love. But where did Thanksgiving come from? Who was smart enough to designate a day to give thanks?

We would have to go back to the Pokanokut Indians and Pilgrims in 1621 at Plymouth Rock. The Pokanokut Indians were the tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims to America in 1620. One year later, the Pokanokuts joined the Pilgrims to celebrate the first American Thanksgiving. (The first Indian inducted into the Continental Army was a Pokanokut, whose job it was to watch over Washington while he slept). To the Indians, the meaning of Thanksgiving was the gathering of the harvest as the Indians had 13 harvests per year, each celebrated during the full moon. Their November harvest became known as what we Americans now celebrate, Thanksgiving.

After the Pilgrims landed in 1620, their health deteriorated rapidly during their first winter on American soil. Squanto, a Pokanokut Indian, approached the settlers to offer his assistance. The settlers were startled to find out that Squanto spoke perfect English. In 1605, Squanto had traveled to England with a friendly English explorer, John Weymouth. Squanto returned to his native land in 1620. Squanto taught the settlers how to grow and harvest corn. He taught the Pilgrims how to erect wigwams, which protected the settlers from the harsh, cold New England winters. After the first year, Captain Miles Standish, who was head of the Plymouth colony, invited Squanto and the main leaders of the Pokanocut Indians, along with their immediate families, to join the settlers in a Thanksgiving celebration. Standish sat on one end of the table while Massasolt Ousamequin, the leader of the Pokanokut nation, sat on the other end. The meal consisted of pumpkins, corn, acorn squash, venison, lobsters, clams and wild game. Standish, however, was not prepared for the 90 Indians who attended the celebration. The Indians then provided five deer, wild turkey, corn soup, corn bread, cranberries and shared in the feast's celebration. The pilgrims and the Indians lived in peace and harmony for the next 54 years.

In 1675, war between the Indians, Pilgrims and Puritans broke out over land disputes. As more and more settlers arrived in America, more and more Indian tribes were being displaced from their lands. By 1676 the war was over; the Indians had lost and were banished to reservations in Connecticut. Throughout the decades, however, many of the Indian tribes returned to their native lands as American citizens.

Recently, Pokanokut spiritual leader, Clifford Guy (who's great great great grandfather was the one that watched over the sleeping Washington), returned to Jamestown after discovering that many of his previous ancestors from the tribe lived there. Long before the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, the Indians believed in the Great Spirit, the Creator, God. "The Indians had no bible and even if they did, they couldn't read one" Guy said. The Indians believed that everything comes from the Great Spirit and that the Creator hears and sees everything. The Indians Creator's Creed was passed down orally from one generation to the next. The creed included such proclamations as "treat all men as they treat us, never break a bargain, it is a disgrace to tell a lie, never take a life and never take property without paying for it". Hmm...sound familiar?

Today, Native Americans observe five Thanksgivings per year. The first Thanksgiving is in March, to celebrate maple syrup. The second is in June, to celebrate the strawberry, which symbolizes the renewal of friendship. The third is the Thanksgiving of the green bean, which is celebrated in July. Its message is to never refuse anything offered to you because it's too small or too little. The fourth is November's Harvest Thanksgiving, which is the one that most celebrate today. And the fifth is the Indian summer, which the Indians claim is a gift from their Creator. Warm winds ascend after a great frost, which allowed the Indians to pick their harvest in October and prepare for the long, cold winter.

As I reviewed our history, so much comes to mind. Will we ever understand that identifying our dates with the cycles of nature will return us to a natural flow of time? Are we always going to fight with each other even though our basic belief systems are the same? Don't we understand that if one man is in chains that none of us are free? Can't we remind ourselves and each other that our Great Creator loves every one of us no matter what color, religion or creed? I have come to believe that if I don't contend with negative thoughts, feelings and forget to give thanks, then it will be a very easy road to a world of misplayed hostility, conflict and disruptive efforts. I have also realized that if I can approach these patterns with responsible consciousness and care, along with invoking the best with my fellow humans in resolving "situations", then patterns presented on my personal path can only lead to insight. And no doubt, through creative consciousness, I can be inspired while gleaning from all situations, instead of forging ahead without attention to personal awareness and insight. As days unfold before me and troubling times of conflict prevail, I have to look to the Pokankuts who faced conflict with an aspired consciousness. If I could bring this to my Thanksgiving table, it may just yield a harvest of creative solutions to lingering problems allowing me to tap into Clifford Guy's bestowed Indian name...the name of Lion Heart.

Specialization is for Insects, Diversification is for Humans

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Robert A. Heinlein's character, Lazarus Long

What a day today! Still hitting the 50's in November in Michigan! I get to spend two hours in the garden today, finishing the mulching and putting all of the stray pots in the Greenhouse. Along with all my other garden duties, I am going to have to get a soil sample so that I can really know our soil and try and meet the needs. Most of our veggies' grew brilliantly, but it can always be better and since Joe and I have to be all things to the garden - soil experts, harvesters, planters, weeders, greenhouse keepers and insect savvy - We seem to continuously be learning something new and staying open so that we are understanding all things are joined in our lives and nature. The more information, the more we can live with integrity - a connectedness.

When I left performing, and because it really was at the top of my game - I heard all kinds of reasons why I left. My favorite continues to be that I am/was afraid of success. It is incomprehensible to many, especially musicians who crave big stages and big crowds, that leaving when you are successful, well, there just has to be something wrong with you. What never seems to be considered is that I had accomplished my vision. The group was fantastic, the crowds amazing, the music was the best that I have ever played in a live situation (Lucy Mongrel wins for recorded efforts) - but honestly, I had done it all before. I had accomplished what I set out to do. What was the point of doing the same thing over and over again? For applause? That becomes empty and meaningless quick. Besides I was teaching full time which was rocking my world and wanted to do solo recordings, learn to cook, have a huge garden, write books, poetry and songs, pursue my spiritual interests and the list keeps growing.

To just do one thing, pursue one career, seems to me, too specialized, pointless. Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people who are perfectly happy doing just that. And I say bless every one of them. But I wanted to be a citizen of the world, the universe - which meant that I needed to "know" what was happening around me. How are all things connected? What am I really made of? I love sitting at a table with a group of people and not know anything. Wow! You mean an opportunity to learn something else? And besides, the more I know the closer I get to understanding in a more compassionate way what makes people, the world and I, tick. If you have lived it, you can feel it. (Ask anyone who was a waitress if they ever got beyond over-tipping). I knew there were more questions, answers and knowledge, understanding how responsible I needed to be - specialization would only cut me off from what I was truly seeking - being connected.

But the myopic thinking in coming up with cures for what goes on in our world, the specialization if you will, looks just like the illness that we are suffering and trying to cure. A day does not go by in Washington without legislation intending to fix one problem ultimately affecting a host of other issues. It's the principle of unintended consequences, and a fact of life in our complex world where everything has become so compartmentalized that the whole picture is not considered - creating more problems. To be a great Politian would be daunting as you would have to have true knowledge in industrialization, history, economics, environment, infrastructures - while being compassionate, intelligent, spiritual and a true artist. Wow! Know anyone?

Or my favorite is when, for example, the Department of Natural Resources, introduces a non-indigenous animal, fish or plant to "quick fix" something which eventually eradicates all that stands in its way. They haven't concluded, if they keep looking at just that one problem "might' be impacted but not without huge consequences. For example, let's say the birds need more food so why not bring in a plant they can feed on. Before you know it, the indigenous plants have disappeared, along with the snakes, frogs and lack of nesting area for the birds they wanted to feed in the first place. This kind of thinking has never worked. Ever!

The toe bone connected to the heel bone, The heel bone connected to the foot bone, The foot bone connected to the leg bone, The leg bone connected to the knee bone, The knee bone connected to the thigh bone, The thigh bone connected to the back bone, The back bone connected to the neck bone, The neck bone.......

But where it really hits home for me is in the world of medicine. In the book Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies, the author, Leon Hammer, M. D. (along with being an acupuncturist) states that he gravitated towards Chinese medicine because it was the fulfillment of a search for a congenial system of healing that embodies the inseparability of body and mind, spirit and matter, nature and man, philosophy and reality. It is a personal, subtle, gentle, yet highly technical medical system, which allows him to be close to essence - the life force - both his own and that of others".

I remember being on a gruesome road trip with a woman who had set out to make all of our lives miserable. Then to add fire to the hell we were already in, the guitar player went psychotic (we later found out he did this with every band) and I had to fire him, picking up players on the way. It was horrible. But in the meantime my shoulder was shooting non-stop pain up my neck. I could not get it to stop. Every town we pulled into, the first thing I did was see a massage therapist or a chiropractor and yes, even went to an emergency room where they told me to take Tylenol - I was way past Tylenol. The pain was intolerable. I lived in Seattle at the time where my main healthcare practitioner was Jim Dowling, RN and Acupuncturist. He was an emergency nurse and had a thriving Chinese Acupuncture/Herb practice. I called him while on the road, begging him to help me somehow. He kept telling me, "It's not your shoulder, it's your liver". He knew that the rage I was repressing due to the circumstances, the emotions, were being held in the liver sending it up the meridian to my shoulder. Well, sure enough, as soon as I got home, I went to see him, he massaged, poked and cleansed my liver - it was incredible what was being released, oh and by the way, the shoulder pain was immediately gone. Because he had the knowledge of how the body worked as a whole, energetically, emotionally and physically - he could help me quickly and in a non-invasive way.

Not all problems are this simple to fix or is are we lucky enough to find the people that we need to help us out of our situations. I don't profess I have any of the answers. But I do have some big questions. Does it matter who I see as long as they have their eye on the big picture?. If we apply these modalities will it take us to not only a more profound result, but a long-lasting one? One that works? One that doesn't have the impact at someone or something else's expense? How connected is everything to everything? If we look at the whole, will more problems get fixed than just the one we are looking at?

If I am lucky, maybe one day, I will live in a world where all elements of living life have been taken into account - from the smallest critter to a universal alignment - allowing earth to become a masterpiece of harmony, intricacy and movement. A great work of art.

Politics Versus Compassion

"May we move from the unreal to the real. May we move from darkness to light, from fear to strength, from ignorance to knowledge. May we all join together on a path to oneness. May we agree to disagree. May we bring an open mind into every moment."

I always want to write about something more than compassion, love and gardening. I have so many interests and thoughts...concepts I want to share. Today, I was sure it was going to be about the Hutchinson Effect (moving mass with sound), then at the last minute, I hear or read something - like the quote at the top of the page. Off I go into another tangent - not being able to help what seems to be coming through me from somewhere above my hair - I write about something I won't usually get into. But being that it was election time and because I don'tusually get into any kind of political discourse - I'm surprised that I feel I need to write about this. So here goes.

Just when it seems that so many citizens of the world are fighting for some reason that only God must know, the fact that fighting and disrespect is prevalent and continues during election time is disappointing and heartbreaking. I have no idea why anyone wants to vote for someone that is blaming, trashing their opponents and showing disrespect for another human being. Why would we want someone like that to represent us? I would think that the people we want to represent us should be held up to a higher moral standard. For me, it has to do with love and compassion.

When I look at business models or human beings that have made a difference, I don't think of name-calling politicians. I think of Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Pete Seeger and Martin Luther King to name a few. As far as organizations go, the model for AA is stellar. Their whole paradigm is to live the "Big Book" and profess attraction rather than promotion. Not campaigning butattraction rather than promotion. This seems to work as they manage to keep things honest in a place where former thieves, liars and who knows what, are left to govern themselves. If you are honest, not influenced by the almighty dollar - maybe just maybe the righteous human might get a chance to speak their truth. But money is only part of it. If we vote for people that are calling each other names, bragging about what they have done, barrage us with ads and phone calls, take campaign money (I cannot tell you how opposed I am in this regard) - then we get what we deserve. We can't be against war while living in a warlike state. We can't say we hate people that vote against same sex marriages - or else we are the same as the people that we are rallying against. We can't say we believe in a better world when we continue to do the same thing we have always done. Hate begets hate. Period.

This is no longer about Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, gays and straights, blacks and whites, the west and the east - This is about us!!! Get it! We are all one. One and the same - there is no separation. If we hurt our brother, we hurt ourselves. Don't we?

Hate is never overcome by hate; hatred is only overcome by love. I know that I must look into my heart and mind and see what I -- individually,collectively, societally -- am doing to alleviate or to perpetuate these problems, and how I might become part of their eventual solution. I think an eye-for-an-eye retaliatory approach is not the most measured response at this time. Remembering that an eye for an eye only leaves both men blind.

Martin Luther King said that we have two choices: to peacefully coexist, or to destroy ourselves. How true as I don't believe that war begins on a battlefield, war begins with the cupidity, hatred, prejudice, racism, ignorance and cruelty in the human heart. This is because the true battlefield is the heart of man. If I want peace in the world -- and I do -- I need to face this fact and learn how to deal with anger, hatred and disarm my own heart, as well as work in larger contexts towards peace in our time. I need to think globally and act locally, beginning with myself and others -- at home, in the family, as well as outside at work and in the community, reaching out more and more in broad, all-embracing circles of collective caring and responsibility. This is the path to a more peaceful future for all of us.

I am not professing that this is an easy road. It isn't. With a world that is hell bent on filling us with fear opposed to hope, faith and love, it does seem, at times, the task becomes impossible. So as much as I try to give everyone basic respect, I fail often and have done so recently. I never feel good about it, and take a daily assessment on how I could have done it better.

I will continue to practice what I have been taught - Love my fellow man and have faith in the Divine - not the other way around. Today is a time to pray for wisdom and have reflection on what is most important in my life. To think about what steps I might take towards nonviolence within myself, my own life and towards a more peaceful world.

I love you all

The Law of Time

The Law of Time

Now the time has come (Time) There's no place to run (Time) I might get burned up by the sun (Time) But I had my fun (Time)....Chambers Brothers, Lyrics from their 60's hit, "Time"

Do you ever feel like you have enough time? No one I know, feels like they have enough daylight to complete their "to-do list." Personally, I need time to meditate, pray, read, grocery shop, do laundry, research, study, exercise, clean my house, garden, can, teach 50 students, write my newsletter, work on artistic projects, cook, volunteer work, take care of the animals, 2 ½ hours of driving time four days a week, banking, take care of myself i.e. dentist, massage, upkeep on the car, dealing with AT&T, Comcast or whomever and of course look great and have time for my husband. And, I don't have kids - (I don't know how you moms and single dads do it). I know as I get older, it feels like time is my enemy. This elusive, not real, incredibly important concept called time, continues to be a mystery. When I consider how all-consuming and huge the concept of time is, the idea of managing it is really pretty funny. How in the world do I think, me, this lowly human can manage that? I'm still working on managing my checkbook.

To be honest, I didn't use to think of time much. Always seemed like I had plenty of it but the ticking of the clock has come to mean a lot more to me in the last couple of years. Not only how time plays out in my life, though I am connected to the bigger picture so yes, I'm sure in a way it does, but what it means to co-exist with nature, and even bigger still, how does it play out in the cosmos.

Not long ago, I had a dream that time was not linear but moved in a spiral. Somehow in my dream, I associated time with water as it spiraled down the drain in my sink. The thought that I was left with was that "time folded in on itself" whereas I concluded that maybe time travel was possible. Before you hit the delete button because you think I'm crazy, Stephen Hawking along with many of the quantum physicists believe it is possible. With the emergence of string theory and/or a multi-dimensional universe theory, brilliant minds are being changed.

I remember reading some years back a quote by Stephen Hawking. "If there is no such thing as time and if you can remember the past, then why can't you remember the future? (This phrase alone has made my head hurt). All of this is a little abstract in my daily life. I love to think about the concepts but how does it play out for me? Or us? Or the planet?

This brings me to Jose Arguelles. In my opinion, one of the great thinkers in the last 100 years. Jose believes that The Law of Time is a universal law and principle. He states that time is the universal factor of synchronization. He has been a proponent of a natural timing frequency that governs the universal order as opposed to an artificial timing frequency which sets modern human civilization apart from the rest of its environment, the biosphere. He believes that where civilization has gone wrong is basing daily life on artificial timing factors - irregular calendar and the mechanical clock. This has created an artificial global mantle. By consuming natural resources faster than they can be replaced and using more waste than can be eliminated, the techno sphere operates at the expense of the biosphere. Which gives us global crisis.

I'm not going to pretend that I really understand that. But what I do understand is that because we are not living with a natural calendar (13 month 28 day as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar instituted 400 years ago) we are out of sync with nature. With the natural calendar, we have to pay attention to nature. The moon becomes something we understand. Does anyone know what September means? October? They really mean nothing to us. But take the first moon phase July 26-August 22^nd in the natural calendar. In ancient times, it was thought of as the Magnetic Moon phase. All who followed and paid attention understood that it was about unification. Each moon phase has it's cycle and purpose giving us information that we can utilize in helping us to create a more meaningful and fruitful existence.

The Law of Time affirms that all of the planetary upheavals and social chaos that we are experiencing today are directly related to giving precedence to human laws and machine technology, rather than divine order and natural law. This is due to living a collective misperception of time known as the 12:60 frequency. This refers to the 12 month cycle of the irregular Gregorian calendar paced by the 60 minute clock.

Because we are living in artificial time it disconnects us both as a species and individually from our true nature. We always feel like we never have "enough time." In the 12:60 frequency, time is money. In the13:20 frequency, time is art. Jose states that "The Law of Time affirms that by the nature of the universal timing frequency the world is already as one. It is only humankind who has chosen separation. This separation is reinforced by separation in time, living by the clock and the irregular measure of the Gregorian which calendar keeps the world from being as one". (There was a movement in the 1930's to change the calendar back to its natural cycle - taken all the way to Congress). The Law of Time states that: Energy factored by time equals art. In this equation, (E) refers to all phenomena in their processes of unfoldment; (T) is the present moment functioning according to the ratio constant 13:20.

I run this through my mind over and over again - - Everything shaped by time is art. Being in sync with Nature is art. Earth's art. Our art. Our expression. Our values. All connected. All valued. All respected. Joining Heaven and Earth. Could anything be more beautiful. Maybe I have all the time in the world.